Monday, August 11, 2014

Dear Mom,
I don't even know what happened to July, and if I don't hurry up and post something, August is going to be halfway over.
Thank goodness for the photos I take with the intention of blog posts or I might not have a clue of where I've been and what I've done.

There was this adorable, very hard-working girl raising money to redecorate her room….

The kitchen cabinet project is marching along. We are almost done, with just the bit over the fridge and the kitchen desk area left to do. I painted the ends of the cabinets blue and I am considering painting three sides of the island a darker shade. And can you see that little bird stenciled there by the chickadee cookie jar? I gave serious thought to painting the back splash with chalkboard paint. Thankfully, I taped some black construction paper up there to get an idea of how it would look and I did NOT like it. So, we will keep things as they are unless and until I get a better idea.

My vegetable garden has been producing abundantly. My freezer is stocked with green beans and I am eating these yellow pear tomatoes like they are candy.

We took a last trip to Shipshewana to visit our favorite Bed and Breakfast before the owners retire. The weather for our stay could not have been better. Actually, our weather all summer long has been nearly perfect.

Sunset over the cornfield.

And I got brave and veered out of the cookbook to make a better peanut butter cookie.

Here is the back story on these cookies, and then I will tell you what I did. Which is not at all scientific.
When MelissaWhoSpinsButDoesNotKnit was here one Saturday so we could collectively try to figure out how to make her borrowed rigid heddle loom work, she mentioned some extra specially delicious peanut butter, made locally, and available in special shops and the farmer's market. I don't even LIKE peanut butter very much, but when she mentioned pretzels and white chocolate, trying some of this peanut butter found its way to the top of my to-do list. You and I went and bought some on the following Tuesday. You got the cranberry dark chocolate version and I stuck with the white chocolate pretzel variety. Click HERE to link to their website. Anyway, we got home with our crack peanut butter. As I took another spoonful, I said to you something like "wow, this peanut butter would make a good peanut butter cookie" and you just looked at me like why would you use a 7 dollar and 50 cent jar of peanut butter in a cookie but instead of saying that you just sort softly and slowly said, "or you could just put pretzels and white chocolate in you peanut butter cookie dough".

Me: "…"

So I did.

Here is the basic recipe that I used for the dough:1/2 c butter1/2 c crunchy peanut butter1/2 c sugar1/2 c brown sugar1 egg1 c flour2 t. baking powder1/2 t saltMix butter and peanut butter; add sugars and mix well. Add egg and beat well.Sift the dry ingredients together and add to peanut butter mixture. This is where I veered off the cookbook page….I threw in a fat fistful of broken pretzel sticks and half a 12oz bag of Nestle's white chocolate chips. I did NOT chill the dough.I did not mold the dough into balls and dip them in sugar. I did not flatten the dough with a fork. Instead, I used a scoop to plop the dough onto silpat lined cookie sheets and baked them at 375 for 12 minutes.

It made less than 2 dozen cookie, though, which is good if you, like me, would probably just keep eating them until they were gone even when everyone around you has enough will power and restraint to walk away after 2 cookies. Like I said, they were good and I don't even really like Peanut Butter cookies.

The Young Lady starts school on Wednesday and we move the Young Man back to campus next week. As much as I dislike setting my alarm, I am ready to get back into a routine and on a schedule again. (And an alarm is a small price to pay for a daily dose of alone time.) WOOHOO!